O'Brien and Moore get back to winning ways as Warm Heart clears away for Ribblesdale victory

Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore drew a rare blank on Wednesday but the royal meeting's most powerful duo were back in the winning groove in emphatic style with Warm Heart's success in the Ribblesdale Stakes.

The pair were in blistering form on the opening day with a big-race double via River Tiber in the Coventry Stakes and Paddington in the St James's Palace, before Moore won on Vauban in the Copper Horse Stakes. 

The Ribblesdale delivered further success as 13-2 shot Warm Heart, despite racing wide early on, quickened from her rivals two furlongs out and stormed clear to win by two and a half lengths from Lumiere Rock.

Moore said: "She's a straightforward filly. I was in a good spot and it all worked out. It's very hard to get winners here, you need all the little things to go for you and I won the first race's [Norfolk] group on the other side, but lost. Sometimes the ball bounces for you, and sometimes it doesn't. In this race it did.

"She was definitely a better filly today than at Newbury last time over mile and a quarter. It wasn't a strongly run race so we hadn't asked her those questions if she'd stay, but she's won a lovely prize."

It was a fourth Ribblesdale victory for Moore and O'Brien respectively, and a 77th Royal Ascot success for the rider, who is in pole position to claim a tenth leading jockey title this week. It had taken him to within one victory of the meeting's all-time leading rider Frankie Dettori, before his emotional Gold Cup glory on Courage Mon Ami maintained the two-win gap.

O'Brien, who became the meeting's winningmost trainer on Tuesday, was claiming a record-extending 84th winner at Royal Ascot.

O'Brien said: "She’s lovely. She ran at Newbury over a mile and a quarter and we thought that maybe that was as far as she was going to get.

"We didn’t know when she got to the front whether she would run out of stamina or if she wouldn’t stay, but obviously we saw she probably doesn’t want to get to the front too early.

"She got the trip very well today, Ryan gave her a beautiful ride, so I’m delighted. She’s out of a great mare [Sea Siren] and usually those fillies with good pedigrees do improve and physically she’s doing great."

Al Asifah, sent off the 5-6 favourite to maintain her unbeaten record, saw her bubble burst with a disappointing sixth-place finish despite moving into contention turning into the home straight.

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